Aptamers are short, single-stranded nucleic acid oligomers that can bind to a specific target molecule. Aptamers are typically selected from a large random pool of oligonucleotides in an iterative process. More recently, aptamers have been successfully selected in cells, in-vivo and in-vitro.
The selection of aptamers, their structure-function relationship, and their mechanisms of action are all poorly-understood. Although more than 100 aptamer structures have been solved and reported, almost no recurring structural motifs have been identified.
A variety of different aptamer selection processes have been described for identifying aptamers capable of binding to a particular target. However, the ability to rapidly and conveniently identify aptamers able to mediate a desirable functional effect on a target of interest would have a profound impact on aptamer therapeutics.